Child behavioural issues

All children misbehave from time to time, but in a small minority behavioural problems become persistent and severe. When a child gets stuck in a pattern of challenging behaviour they often feel unhappy, unsafe and out of control; and so do their parents.

One child in five has behavioural problems that can affect their future life chances, while 5% of children have the most severe behavioural problems, known as conduct disorder. Children with conduct disorder face the following negative outcomes:

The difference that parenting programmes make

Good quality parenting programmes can make a real difference to these children, helping parents pick up simple techniques to more effectively manage behaviour and support their child’s wellbeing.

"You get stuck in a rut for so long that it takes going somewhere and talking to other people to put everything into perspective. From the first session I was looking forward to coming back."

They also potentially contribute to substantial cost savings in the public sector. Despite these opportunities, only a small minority of children and families get the help they need to protect their children’s life chances.

Getting the programmes right

We have been working on conduct disorder since 2009, with funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. And we know that many barriers are hindering the provision of parenting programmes:

programmes do not always comply with what works

many fail to target those who need them most

take-up rates are low and drop-out rates are high.

In short, there is a big gap between the promise of the research and the reality of current services.

What you can do - In practice

The key to really effective parenting programmes is to follow what works. That means:

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